WBEZ | air travelhttp://www.wbez.org/tags/air-travel
Latest from WBEZ Chicago Public RadioenDrone fight over Illinoishttp://www.wbez.org/blogs/charlie-meyerson/2013-02/drone-fight-over-illinois-105524
<p><p><a href="www.suntimes.com/18213738-761/lawmaker-seeks-to-regulate-use-of-drones-in-illinois-before-they-arrive.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Drone makes a test flight in Mesa County, Colo. (AP Photo/Mesa County Sheriff's Unmanned Operations Team)" class="image-original_image" src="http://www.wbez.org/system/files/styles/original_image/llo/insert-images/RS6999_AP120124033602-lpr.jpg" style="height: 168px; width: 300px; float: right;" title="" /></a><strong>HOME-DRONE FIGHT.&nbsp;</strong>An Illinois lawmaker wants some&nbsp;<a href="http://www.suntimes.com/18213738-761/lawmaker-seeks-to-regulate-use-of-drones-in-illinois-before-they-arrive.html" target="_blank">privacy guidelines to cover potential use of <strong>drone aircraft</strong> by state and local crimefighters</a>.<br />* Pentagon introduces new type of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/medal-will-honor-troops-engaged-in-cyber-ops-drone-strikes/2013/02/13/bdc26f64-7629-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html" target="_blank">medal for troops who remotely pilot unmanned vehicles</a>.</p><p><strong>&#39;ONE OF THE GREAT BATTLES OF ALL TIME.&#39;</strong> That&#39;s the way <a href="http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130214/NEWS10/130219873/how-the-american-us-airways-merger-will-affect-chicago" target="_blank">one airline industry consultant describes what&#39;s ahead</a> for Chicago now that American Airlines and US Airways have <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/18211434-761/us-airways-american-announce-11b-merger.html" target="_blank">announced their merger</a>.</p><p><strong>&#39;WE WILL NOT SURRENDER. WE WILL NOT APPEASE. WE WILL BUY MORE GUNS THAN EVER.&#39; --&nbsp;</strong>Commentary for&nbsp;<em>The Daily Caller</em>&nbsp;from&nbsp;<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/13/stand-and-fight/" target="_blank">NRA chief Wayne LaPierre</a>.<br />* Sen. Kirk says he has parents&#39; OK to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wbez.org/news/sen-kirk-talks-guns-health-and-presidential-fist-bump-105516" target="_blank">name anti-gun trafficking bill after Hadiya Pendleton</a>.<br />* Family says Pendleton murder suspect is a &quot;<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-family-hadiya-pendleton-slaying-suspect-good-kid-20130213,0,3977389.story" target="_blank">good kid</a>.&quot;</p><p><strong>&#39;THE MOMENT MATTERED, BY THIS POINT, BECAUSE EVEN RUBIO SAID THAT IT DID.&#39;&nbsp;</strong>The New Yorker&#39;s Ian Crouch takes&nbsp;<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/02/marco-rubio-water-bottle-moment.html?mobify=0" target="_blank">an intimately detailed look at Marco Rubio&#39;s hydration break</a>. (Rubio comes from a Gulp State, no?)<br />* NRA, other lobbyists, corporations paid big for&nbsp;<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/twitter-a-live-megaphone-for-lobbying-groups-companies/2013/02/13/dbe023ac-758d-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html" target="_blank">Twitter placement during State of the Union address</a>.</p><p><strong>SCHOOLS OUT.</strong>&nbsp;The good news? The Chicago Public Schools system has shrunk the number of schools it&#39;ll consider closing. The bad news?&nbsp;<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-129-on-new-chicago-schools-closing-list-20130213,0,6621050.story" target="_blank">The list is still 129 schools long</a>.<br />* West Side mom: &quot;<a href="http://www.suntimes.com/18187995-761/cps-chief-releases-list-of-129-schools-that-could-close-west-siders-vow-to.html" target="_blank">They want to send our kids into unfamiliar streets they don&rsquo;t even know</a>.&quot;<br />* Map and sortable list of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wbez.org/news/more-20-percent-city-public-schools-list-potential-closure-105519#list" target="_blank">schools eligible for closure</a>.</p><p><strong>CTA&#39;S BRIGHT FUTURE.&nbsp;</strong>Armed with a $30 million credit from the company that makes those new rail cars with center-facing seats, the CTA&#39;s buying eight more cars -- and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/18212618-418/cta-buying-new-rail-cars-at-bargain-price-adding-brighter-interior-lights.html" target="_blank">replacing the lighting in all the new cars with LED fixtures</a>&nbsp;that won&#39;t yellow the way traditional fluorescents do.</p><p><strong>PEOPLE WHO NEED <em>PEOPLE?&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/time-warner-in-talks-to-sell-off-majority-of-magazines/" target="_blank">Time-Warner&#39;s seeking buyers for most of its magazines</a>, including <em>People</em>, <em>InStyle</em> and <em>Real Simple</em>. But it may keep <em>Time</em>&nbsp;for a time. And it may also not sell <em>Fortune</em>, because the selling price would be a ... big sum of <em>Money</em>. Which it&#39;s also reportedly not selling.<br />*&nbsp;<a href="http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/16069511/nbc-5%E2%80%99s-wert-to-head-local-broadcasting-for-tribune-co" target="_blank">Channel 5 boss leaving</a>&nbsp;for Tribune Co., including WGN-TV and WGN Radio (which, full disclosure, formerly employed this here news blogger).</p><hr /><p><em><strong>ANNOUNCEMENTS.</strong><br />* Yesterday&#39;s post incorrectly characterized the state of the Blackhawks&#39;&nbsp;streak of games without a regulation loss. <a href="http://www.wbez.org/blogs/charlie-meyerson/2013-02/marco-rubios-sip-water-sets-twitter-afire-105493" target="_blank">That text has been corrected</a>, with thanks to Friend of the Blog <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stephen-anzaldi/6/816/7b1" target="_blank">Stephen Anzaldi</a>.<br />* Have more corrections for this blog? <a href="mailto:cmeyerson@wbez.org?subject=Things%20and%20stuff">Email anytime</a>.<br />* Follow us on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/wbez" target="_blank">@WBEZ</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/meyerson" target="_blank">@Meyerson</a>.<br />* If it&#39;s Thursday, it must be time to make up this week&#39;s news quiz. Be here Friday morning, bright and early, for your chance to score.</em></p></p>Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:00:00 -0600http://www.wbez.org/blogs/charlie-meyerson/2013-02/drone-fight-over-illinois-105524New screening procedures for air travelers over 75 http://www.wbez.org/story/new-screening-procedures-air-travelers-over-75-97272
<img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://llnw.wbez.org/story/photo/2012-March/2012-03-14/AP111004158189.jpg" alt="" /><p><p>Air travelers over the age of 75 soon may not have to remove their shoes or light jackets to clear security in a test program at four U.S. airports.</p><p>The Transportation Security Administration announced the change Wednesday. It's one of several new procedures meant to speed lower-risk passengers through screening and will likely mean fewer pat-downs for older travelers.</p><p>Late last year, the federal agency made similar changes for travelers ages 12 and younger at some airports.</p><p>The new procedures will begin March 19 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Denver International, Orlando International and Portland International.</p><p>Airport security is a common complaint of travelers. Many of them say the TSA doesn't use common sense when it screens all air travelers the same way, including young children and the elderly.</p></p>Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:50:00 -0500http://www.wbez.org/story/new-screening-procedures-air-travelers-over-75-97272Meet John and Julie: Holograms Beamed Into The Manchester Airporthttp://www.wbez.org/story/air-travel/2011-02-03/meet-john-and-julie-holograms-beamed-manchester-airport-81731
<p><p>Apparently people who fly from Manchester, England, often forget to throw away their liquids. Since 2006, when the policy that required travelers to ditch their liquids went into effect, staff at the Manchester airport has tried all sorts of mechanisms to get people to comply.</p><p>"We've tried a number of things, from posters to leaflets, from real staff being there to remind people," Russell Craig, spokesman for the Manchester International Airport, tells Robert Siegel on <em>All Things Considered</em>. "Even, last summer, we had people dressed as giant bottles of water."</p><p>Their latest ploy? Holograms — just like those in <em>Star Wars</em> (remember the scene where Princess Leia makes a plea to Obi-Wan Kenobi?). Last week, the airport added holograms of two real employees — Julie Capper and John Walsh — to remind passengers of the liquid restrictions. Their holograms are two-dimensional.</p><p>Craig says the holograms are drawing crowds — and "incredible results."</p><p>But Julie's hologram, which runs through a 13-14 second script, is set up in the same section that Julie works — confusing some travelers.</p><p>"In fact, an old guy walked up to Julie's hologram and obviously thought it was the real Julie, handed her his passport — and of course when she didn't respond, he looked very annoyed that he was being ignored," Craig says. "And then [he] suddenly realized what happened and kind of shuffled off to see the real Julie."</p><p>Neither Julie nor John get any overtime for their holograms' long hours.</p><p>Says Craig: "That's one of the benefits of [holographic] staff, of course, is they don't go sick, they don't complain, they just carry on doing what they do." Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit <a href="http://www.npr.org/">http://www.npr.org/</a>.<img src="http://metrics.npr.org/b/ss/nprapidev/5/1296769345?&gn=Meet+John+and+Julie%3A+Holograms+Beamed+Into+The+Manchester+Airport&ev=event2&ch=103943429&h1=air+travel,human+interest,Travel,Technology,Foreign+News,The+Two-Way,Europe,World,Home+Page+Top+Stories,News&c3=D%3Dgn&v3=D%3Dgn&c4=133472602&c7=1004&v7=D%3Dc7&c18=1004&v18=D%3Dc18&c19=20110203&v19=D%3Dc19&c20=1&v20=D%3Dc20&c21=2&v21=D%3Dc2&c45=MDA0OTc2MjAwMDEyNjk0NDE4OTI2NmUwNQ001"/></p></p>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:44:00 -0600http://www.wbez.org/story/air-travel/2011-02-03/meet-john-and-julie-holograms-beamed-manchester-airport-81731